Chapter 19

Light And Dark

When Buffy walked into Dumbldores office, she was surprised to see Harry and Dawn there, both looking extremely worried.

"Dawn…what's going on?" she asked them.

Dawn shook her head, eyes wide and gestured to Dumbledore. "Ask him."

"If you could all sit down…" he began warily.

Buffy held up a hand. "No. If something's gone wrong, cut the cryptic and just tell us ok? It's been a long night…"

Dumbldore nodded, and smiled sadly at them.

"I'm afraid there's been some trouble at Grimmauld place."

"Trouble?" said Harry, standing up. "What do you mean? No ones hurt are they? Lupin…Mr and Mrs Weasley…"

Dumbldore sighed and once more asked them all to sit down, this time they listened. "No ones been hurt…yet. I'm sorry but…it's not good news. I'm afraid that Percy…Ron's brother…has been possessed by Voldemort. Voldemort is working through him and has been spying on the order for this past month. It's why I haven't included Ron and Hermione in this."

"Poor Ron," whispered Dawn, holding Harry's hand tightly. "First Charlie and now this…how are we going to tell him?"

"We're not," Dumbledore continued. "Not at the moment. This doesn't concern them now Dawn. It does however, concern…Angel."

Angel met the wizards gaze without looking away.

"Voldemort has requested that you go and meet him at the head quarters, alone."

"When?" asked Cordelia. "And why?"

"Here's where the bad news comes in," Dumbldore continued. He looked at Willow this time. "Percy is holding someone hostage. As leverage against us. As long as this person remains under his hold, then we can't stop him. Angel will go and meet voldemorts requests, whatever that may be and he will do this because of an innocent life caught in the crossfire."

Willow nodded, tears in her eyes. "It's Tara," she whispered.

"Will, I'm sorry," murmured Buffy, still trying to process everything.

"Why would voldemort want Angel though? It doesn't make sense!" Harry interrupted them angrily.

"It makes perfect sense," Angel murmured quietly.

"Voldemort doesn't want Angel," Cordelia continued for him, suddenly getting it. "He wants Angelus."

"He has kidnapped Tara, so Angel will go there and then Percy will reverse the curse. Voldemorts figured out how."

There was a silence. "When does he want me there?" asked Angel and Buffy turned to face him in shock.

"Angel, you can't be serious! There has to be a way round this."

"She's right," said Wesley. "This isn't an option. We need all the help in this battle we can get and you walking right into their trap…."

"There isn't another way," Angel told them all grimly. "It's Tara's life we're talking about here. If I don't go he will kill her."

"And what makes you think he won't anyway?" snapped Cordy. "Angel…once you're Angelus you won't care about anything or anyone, let alone saving her! Voldemorts more then likely to take you both, to make sure Willow doesn't curse you again!"

"Since when did you get so smart cordy?" asked Xander in surprise.

Piper leaned over and whispered to her sisters. "You guys have any clue what they're talking about?" she asked frustrated.

"No. But since when do we ever?" Paige answered her.

"Know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking too many super beings in one room is always a bad idea. Must throw some cosmic force out of alignment or something, because nothing ever makes sense when we're all together!" Phoebe added.

Piper nodded and then stood up. "Ok, everbody stop," she practically shouted. For a moment it seemed like they would ignore her again, like before, so she raised her hand and one of the windows behind Buffy shattered into a million pieces.

"Now I've finally got your attention," she began as they all turned to stare at her. "Can you be kind and rewind? You lost me around the whole…voldemort wants Angelus. Who's Angelus?"

"Some firepower you got there Piper," said Buffy, hastily backing away from the witch. "I swear we told you the whole saga…"

"No. You've mention the name once or twice, you've told us some horror stories. But not everything. You guys just go all quiet and change the topic whenever we want you to tell us more about it," said Phoebe quietly.

"Well, it's not something we like to bring up much," Buffy said awkwardly. "It's…a long, dark painful moment in our lives…no offence Angel…"

"Been there, done that," said Paige. "And what's it got to do with Angel?"

Buffy shared a look with Cordy, who to her surprise looked on the verge of tears as well. So, taking a deep breath, she began to talk.

When she was finished, the three sisters looked stunned. Harry was staring awkwardly at the ground, already having heard this from Dawn.

"So, their one and the same?" asked Paige finally.

"Kind of like Jekyl and Hyde?"

Angel nodded. "Yep, exactly like that."

"And here I thought you had problems with Cole," Piper whispered to Phoebe.

"I'm…sorry about the window Dumbledore…I'll replace it…" Piper said finally, not able to look at Angel.

"It's ok," he gestured at the window in question and to Pipers relief it looked like nothing had happened.

"Angel…where are you going?" asked Giles quietly. Angel had been edging towards the door while they had been talking, hoping not to be noticed.

Angel froze, his back to them all, but he didn't turn round.

"It seems you're making this far too easy for them," Giles continued. "It almost seems like you want this to happen as much as they do."

"Giles, you know that's not right," murmured Willow.

Angel quietly reminded himself to buy willow something pretty for her kindness and faith in him…even if he had tried to kill her in the past, she still stood up for him. "I'm sorry," he said. "I promise I'll do everything I can to keep Tara safe…for as long as I can. Goodbye," With that, he walked out of the room.

After a few moments, Cordelia finally stood up and ran after him.

"Angel…wait," she called out to him.

He stopped and slowly turned to face her. "I'm doing this no matter what you say cor," he told her firmly.

She nodded. "I know. It's just…just like that? You're leaving? And all you can say to me is goodbye?"

"Cordy…" he looked away. "We might not see each other again…"

"And that's as good as giving up. Willow will find a way to curse you again, you know that. What about Gunn and Fred and Lorne? What about Connor? We're your family, you won't believe that for us?"

Angel smiled and walked up to her. "It's a nice thought," he whispered. "I once told you that I'd lived more then a hundred years and had never met anyone like you. Well, I meant it and there are so many other things I meant to say as well. I'm sorry, maybe I'll get to tell you if we make it through this mess."

To her surprise, he leant down and kissed her softly, then, just as quickly, he was gone. When she opened her eyes again, the last thing she saw was him disappearing round the corner.

Well, that was just great, she thought. He'd managed to redefine their relationship in only a matter of seconds and confuse the hell out of her! And if she ever did see him again, would she be able to forgive him for what he'd just done?

Considering that she missed him already and was more scared for him then she'd ever been, probably. I'm in trouble, she thought, turning to go back upstairs. It was then that she ran into Buffy.

"You ok?" asked the slayer quietly.

"I…how long have you been there?" she asked nervously.

Buffy shrugged. "Long enough. I should warn you about angel though…the guy likes the brooding side of life. You know, angst, pain, remorse…sure you can handle it?"

"Buffy…I don't even know what just happened. Last time I checked we were just…very good friends and colleagues! I'm telling the truth about that."

Buffy waved away her worries, trying not to show how hurt and confused she was by what she'd just seen. "This isn't the time or place for this Cordy. We can have the big cat fight later, when this is over and Angels safely on his way back to LA, ready to help the helpless again. Deal?"

Cordy looked at her sceptically. "You think that's likely to happen?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "The cat fight?"

"No! Angel getting his soul back?"

Buffy looked sad for only a moment. "I hope so. Its different this time…knowing there's no other way, gets you feeling kind of helpless. But we'll work it out, we always do!" she said this a little too brightly though.

"We'd better," said Harry from behind them.

"Hey," said Buffy, with her first real smile of the evening. "You manage to turn up everywhere don't you?" then she noticed the rest of them gathered around him.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Dawn. "What's there to be happy about anyway? We've just lost Angel…"

"Yes, but we've still got the power of three," she answered her sister. "And slayer strength and …Phoebe, what? I know we have to face a whole army…but…postive thinking people!"

"I've just had an idea, about the vision I shared with Cordy I mean!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Buffy you're a genius!"

"I am?" Buffy looked at her like she'd gone crazy.

"What vision?" asked Harry and Dawn at the same time.

"Nothing for you guys to worry about," Buffy told the teenagers. "At the moment. But we have a lot of work to do."

Harry turned to look at his head master seriously. "I think it's time to alert the school," he said.

Dumbldore nodded. "I think you're right Harry."

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"So, are we going to tell Ron about Percy?" Dawn asked as they made their way back to gryffindor tower.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. He's Ron's brother but…Ron will probably do something rash like try to go to Grimmauld place or something…" just like you were thinking about going after Voldemort alone? He asked himself.

Not the same thing, he argued back. It's my destiny to fight Voldemort, it's not Ron's destiny to go get himself killed.

"I can't believe this is happening again," Dawn continued. "It's scary to think that any minute now, Angel will be there and turn into Angelus and there's nothing we can do. I don't know how Buffy's going to cope with this…."

"Or Cordelia," added Harry. "She looked pretty upset…."

"That's even more scary. See…I always remember Cordy as being, well…a bitch is the only word that comes to mind. But now she's all…and her and Angel…I just don't get it!"

Harry listened to her talk trying not to let her know that he was just as worried as the rest of them

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"So how are you really holding up?" asked Willow as they made their way to their room.

Buffy shook her head. "I can't think about anything right now Will, It's too much. I never thought this would happen again….and Angel and cordelia…"

Willow nodded. "Never saw that one coming. But look at it this way, if he ever does get his soul back, they can't be together. Angel can never really be with anyone."

Buffy smiled grimly. "I guess. I know I shouldn't be like this. I mean, when I went to LA to deal with faith I told him I'd moved on. That I loved Riley because I trusted him. Truth is, I'll always feel something for Angel…that'll never go away. But we've both grown apart now, grown up I guess. I just never thought he'd move on to Cordelia! I'm sorry Will. Here I'm going on about me but what about you? I swear…we'll do whatever we can about Tara…"

Willow shook her head. "I know you will. But I'm sure the Order will be able to do something. And Spike's there as well remember?"

Buffy nodded. "We'll get word to them as soon as possible," she told her best friend, knowing neither of them would be able to sleep that night.

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On his way out of the castle grounds, Angel ran into Snape.

"Dumbldore asked me to set this up for you," Snape told him, void of any emotions as usual. He handed Angel a book.

"Thanks. This is a portkey right?" Angel asked. "See? I'm getting the hang of this stuff."

Snape didn't answer him and began to turn away.

"Wait," said Angel suddenly. "Listen…next time you see me…I'll be working with Him. The others have this idea they'll be able to stop that from happening…but I want you to do something for me that they might not be able to."

Snape rolled his eyes. "If you're going to ask me to kill you…."

"Exactly. It might have to happen," said Angel frowning.

"So cliché of you Angel," the teacher sneered at him. "Of course, I might just let you suffer afterwards. The knowledge you killed all your friends…almost something I'd like to see. It's what you deserve anyway."

Angel could think of a million things to say back to that comment, but he chose to ignore him.

Seconds later, he arrived at the Orders headquarters. He found himself In the entrance hall, and headed down the hall, following the sound of voices.

Giles's words came back to haunt him, echoing and blocking out all other sounds. "It seems like you almost want this to happen…"

Did he? It was a whole lot easier on the other side. You didn't have remorse or regret, you didn't have to worry about the decisions you made or how they would affect people, because you just plain didn't care. He knew Angelus wanted out, he'd tasted freedom four years ago and had been fighting for it ever since.

But that's him, Angel told himself. Sure I may have a little dark in me, and Liam wasn't that great a guy, but I don't want to do this. If there's any other way out I'd take it…and I'll still try. But this isn't what I want.

Trying to concentrate, he tried to locate where the voices where coming from. He thought he heard Spike, Gunn…someone he didn't know who he was guessing was Percy…or should he be saying voldemort? Finally assuring himself that he had no other options, he began to take the long walk.

When he opened the door to the room, chaos met his eyes.

Tara had subtly warned the rest of the order of their situation, using magic, and everyone was surrounding Percy and Tara.

As swiftly as possible, Angel stepped into the room. "Ok, I'm here. Let Tara go," he said coldly. As he said this, he saw Spike roll his eyes and take a step back.

"Took you bloody long enough," Spike commented. "So, where're the reinforcements?"

Angel didn't answer, but walked forwards so he faced voldemort.

"Hello? Am I the only one who's paying attention here?" Spike exclaimed. "Where's the back up? The slayer?"

"I'm glad you took my advice Angel," Voldemort said, still not letting go of Tara.

"Percy please stop this," sobbed Molly. "This isn't you…it can't be!"

"Hush Molly," whispered Remus, holding his wand tightly in front of him, ready to do whatever he could, when he got the chance. Arthur couldn't even speak.

"You can't seriously stand there and tell us Buffy decided to stay out of this?" asked Spike.

Angel nodded. "Let her go Voldemort," he asked again. "That was the deal."

Voldemort smiled and nodded and shoved Tara to the floor. But just as Spike reached down to help the witch stand up, voldemort raised his wand and a magical barrier was set up. Tara and Angel on one side, everyone else on the other. Tara watched as Spike was thrown across the room by the power of the spell, crashing into the wall.

Cole turned to face the dark lord and raised a hand, and sent an energy ball racing towards the barrier, hoping to break it somehow. The barrier flashed green, but nothing else happened.

Voldemort turned away from the order, assured that he was safe for the moment, and as several order members sent spells, trying in their own ways to break the barrier, he began to chant the spell that would release Angels soul.

Tara's eyes widened in horror when she realised what was happening. She turned to try and communicate with Spike, but the barrier was blocking her magical abilities somehow. She couldn't reach them.

Soon, it was over and when Tara looked over at Angel, it looked like nothing had happened. But then he smiled, and she new Angel was gone.

The barrier disappeared and Angel walked slowly over to Tara and grabbed her arm before Spike had a chance to help her.

"No," Leo said in shock. "You're supposed to help us."

"Don't think I know the meaning of that word," Angelus laughed, and then he and Tara and Voldemort disappeared.

TBC